Making 3-Ply Cordage

3-ply cordage gives a smooth, stable string particularly suitable for things like bowstrings or other uses where reliability is important.
The oldest extant string currently in existence is a 3-ply cord from the Abri du Maras, made 50,000 years ago by Neanderthals!
I now have a 'buy me a coffee' page which helps fund my ongoing research and the making of these free videos. If you'd like to support me, please visit ko-fi.com/sall... Thank you!

[@AllenCrawford3]

This is one of the most reliably informative and charming channels on YT. (And Sally's hat is a triumph.)

[@rigoniironworks]

Thank you for this video, I've been collecting yucca for a rope project and really wanted a strong 3 ply but did not know the technique, since everyone on youtube shows 2 ply. Greatly appreciated, thanks! :)

[@hodgeh]

Your explanations and visuals are helpful, easy to understand and just make sense in my brain. Thank you so much for your content!

[@notanimposter]

You make it seem so easy right handed that seeing it left handed is actually really helpful since it shows some good technique for keeping the strands in order with slightly clumsier hands!

[@bertgillespie2618]

Great instruction! I enjoy ALL your videos! Thanks so much!

[@Ariovistvs]

Perfectly explained, shown precisely and with enough repetition. And I find your style of narration to be very relaxing and enjoyable :) Great tutorial!

[@sharonwilbourne7256]

Lovely three ply cordage strands. Thanks for sharing your skills with us.

[@andrewburns3823]

What a nice video. I liked the method to laying in more fiber without generating 'tag ends' in the cordage. Cheers for 2023.

[@jimbenge9649]

Sally, I have so much enjoyed watching your videos this year, and catching up on earlier ones. Thank you and merry Christmas. 🎄

[@Waldhandwerk]

Very good and very nice! Thanks for sharing! Happy Holidays!

[@johnlzhc]

hedge bothering! what a wonderful phrase. thanks for the video, very informative

[@donnagray9579]

I have learned a lot this year and have shared it with many members of my community garden. We now have so much handy cordage from the various plants and weeds we would normally discard or disregard. Looking forward to more hedge-bothering in the new year. Merry Christmas👍👍

[@MoniqueAO888]

Thank you for this informative video !!! Happy holidays 🎄🎄🎄🙂

[@homesteadgamer1257]

This is the best diy-cordage video I've seen. Very detailed! I'd honestly thought it was simple braiding. Thank you for making this video!!!

[@catherinewalks1207]

A really helpful video. Happy Christmas and here's looking forward to an interesting 2023!

[@AnimeShinigami13]

relaxing myself with some scraps of acrylic yarn and this technique. I found out why my landlord is being difficult FROM THE NEIGHBOR rather than from him and I'm very frustrated right now. add in the fireworks and I'm not in a good mood at all. i'm not adding the extra twist though. And yet it still has the Z ply.

[@lesdrinkwater490]

Another interesting video. Your easy to follow instructions and clear presentation is great. Can you tell me more about lime bast please.

[@SallyPointer]

Have you seen my other videos on lime bast? If not, start there and see if you still have questions 🙂

[@zarkthemuffin]

I love this!! Thank you so much for sharing💖💖💖

[@flowergrannyjanet]

This is really wonderful' and inspiring I knit and crochet and sew and I love natural fibre's. I can't wait to try this

[@k.jespersen6145]

For keeping the plies in order, at higher ply-numbers, it can be useful to have a roll of double-sided sticky tape on hand to keep the order straight: --Roll the tape roll across some felt or denim to make it slightly less adhesive, then slip it over the fingers of the anchoring hand. --With the cording hand, twist away, fold to the bottom, and secure (press) the first ply to the tape roll. Twist away, fold to the bottom, and secure the next ply to the tape roll under the one before. Continue until all plies are secure. --Pluck the first ply, which is now at the top, from the tape roll, twist away, fold and secure to the bottom. Continue the process with the next ply at the top, and so on. The tape roll keeps tumbling, the plies stay in order. It works better with fibers that are long, smooth, and not brittle/shedding, so lime bast but not so much nettle and flax, but I've never heard of a practical 8-ply nettle cord anyway.

[@kitdubhran2968]

Am sitting here, spinning some Falkland on a supported spindle just enjoying the heck out of your videos. ❤

[@linr8260]

Happy Holidays to you too! Thank you for the enlightening video.

[@CheapEngineerCrafts]

Thank you for all your content. I love the experimental archeology aspect of your work. So satisfying for both the crafty and historical sides of me. Happy holidays!

[@FrauWNiemand]

This technique seems very easy and has aplenty of practical usage possibilities.

[@helykhomesteading4636]

Great video. I love making cordage but so far have only made 2 strand. Now I am off to find something in the house to practice this three strand technique. Without having to go out to the craft shed, it might have to be a first attempt with toilet tissue!

[@kirstyburgum2878]

Thank you Sally, love your skills as well as your knowledge that you share we us. Best wishes and looking forward to seeing what you will be making in 2023!

[@pedroferreira4134]

Thanks Sally! Very informative.

[@JillianEve]

Wonderful tutorial! It gets me imagining how the first spinning started to take place. Did someone say, "Let's twist all of it at once and then ply that all at once," and then poof! Cordage technology led to spun and plied yarn. I love wondering about these things. 🧶💕

[@knucker4931]

Thank you for all your videos this year, a delight to watch and get ideas from. I find managing three strands a challenge at times and then make up the required length in to ply, but reverse a strand and lay it between the two ply, if that makes sense. I find I am better able to control tension and size. Any way. Thank you for all you do. Good Yule and best wishes for 2023. Al

[@Ravencall]

Your videos are always informative, fun, and inspiring. I've experimented with several plant fibers- some little successes, some duds. Growing hemp for fiber was the dud. A lot of fuss yielded only a tiny handful of fiber. But the leaves yielded a nice yellow wool dye.

[@maureenstrang6130]

Great tutorial. I would have tried to put the strand in the middle. (Like a braid) Can't wait to try this out.

[@dragonmakr2159]

Thank you, Sally! I was making some two strand cord the other day, and wondering how I could do three. And lo, here's the video!

[@Beryllahawk]

And a joyous Midwinter to you as well!! I've so enjoyed discovering your videos and all these incredible techniques! I had no idea how complicated making "just a string" could be, or how many plants could be made into cord either. Fascinating how much our ancestors knew! Thank you for making such great, informative, and easy to understand videos! Eager to see what next year will bring!

[@lisascenic]

The lime bast cordage is so beautiful!

[@snazzypazzy]

Thank you Sally for all the educational videos. I've learned so much! If you'd like to, I'd be very interested in learning how you process barks to use in weaving or cordage. Because I've seen people use it before, and all I manage to get is tiny hard bits. Even after soaking the branch I was stripping. Happy midwinter to you too!

[@ВалентинаСамсонович-р9ц]

Sally made several videos about retting linden bark this year.

[@snazzypazzy]

@@ВалентинаСамсонович-р9ц I have completely missed those! Will have a look, thanks!

[@miaokuancha2447]

Another lovely video. Your wonderful tutorials are so restful to watch. Thank you so much for sharing your lore and your spirit. God bless you, and bring you every happiness.

[@saxazax]

u have so many amazing vids tysm so informative

[@KathleenDenly_Author]

Very helpful and clear. Thank you!

[@danatowne5498]

Glad to see you Sally!! Thank you and Happy Holidays!

[@Timmyjg2004]

What is the best time to get nettles? Right now most of them are purple colour and not that big!? Will that work? Thanks in advance

[@SallyPointer]

In the UK they are just coming into perfect condition

[@lindajensen1959]

It's 1 degree here in Iowa, USA. With the wind chill it's -15. Brrrr!!!

[@annanelson6830]

-40 Fahrenheit in Fairbanks, Alaska today! Good day to watch Sally Pointer videos. Thanks 😊

[@amand7770]

Can you make a Video about making cloth fron nettles?

[@SallyPointer]

It's on my list for next year! For the moment there's a lot of other videos on my list that use nettles, just to tide you over.

[@amand7770]

@@SallyPointer trank you :)

[@the-nomad]

Yeah, it's dropped to -22C last night and at the moment it's -11 with ice 'rain' so the chance to sit in and watch this with my dogs is welcome, thanks for the video.

[@blowitoutyourcunt7675]

I wonder how this would do for curler hair? I think AA call them Senegalese twists but this is an awesome tutorial! Cheers doll!

[@williamjhunter5714]

Thank you...a great demo

[@cathybrown6267]

Thank you Sally! This looks most useful, for all crafts.😊

[@amandajstar]

Hi Sally, I was just thinking of you! I've been reading a wonderful book on the women's portraits of Ingres (by Aileen Ribeiro), and one of them shows a woman wearing a 'hair necklace'. I had never heard of such a thing before (and if I didn't know better, I would have continued to think that it was a necklace of long beads). Have you ever made a hair necklace? As a material we grow on our heads -- no need to hunt or search for it -- it surely must have fairly ancient origins. Yet it was considered refined enough for a lady of the early 19th century, putting her best self forward for a portrait by a very great artist.

[@SallyPointer]

There are Victorian manuals of hair jewellery, I keep meaning to have a proper read of them

[@amandajstar]

@@SallyPointer Ahhh! Perhaps a future project lurks within those Victorian manuals : ) I shall stay tuned in any case!

[@elenavaccaro339]

Love your tutorials! Thank you for acknowledging the intelligence of our cousins, the Neanderthals. You and another KZbinr who does tablet weaving are favorite instructors for ancient crafts. Can't wait for spring for more hedge bothering.

[@worm_vaquero]

Who do you follow for tablet weaving? I watch Elewys of Finchingefeld.

[@bonitareardon5987]

Hi Sally, love your programs. I am wondering how long ago were spindles first used? It is fairly easy to make plied cordage with a spindle, but one might need cordage longer than what is possible with a spindle, but joins are possible.

[@SallyPointer]

They start appearing in the Neolithic, but people are splicing yarn for a very long time before they start spinning it. As wool becomes common in the Bronze Age the use of spindles to prepare yarn becomes more common.

[@bonitareardon5987]

@@SallyPointer I ask because I am a spinner, knitter, seamstress, and csm sock knitter. Information like yours gives me more insight into what I do. Thanks for all your great videos!

[@Sheepdog1314]

excellent - thank you

[@witchways]

Great to see another video from you!

[@irieknit]

Thank you, Sally! The twist-direction explanation was delightful to hear. Happy New Year & best for the holidays.

[@jillatherton4660]

Just what I needed, btw of all the string makers I've watched, you are the best.

[@MoniqueAO888]

Happy New Year 🥂🍾🙂

[@scrapbagstudios]

Thank you for this. I have been making two ply cordage for years out of leaves, raffia, strips of fabric (cotton or silk work best) and this 3 ply cordage will be a great addition to my repertoire and have many more uses. Your instructions are very clear and easy to follow. Thank you. Have a great Christmas. I am in Australia so it's a summer break for me. 😀❤💚

[@ingeleonora-denouden6222]

Thank you for all your inspiring videos Sally!

[@mozartpaiva1]

Love it!!!!!!!!!

[@d4r4butler74]

Thank You!

[@rens1030]

Much gratitude Sally, you made the 3ply look as easy as 2. Will give it another shot this winter. Merry hollidays!

[@gallovidian2151]

Excellent, clear video thankyou :) (Luath from DS)

[@esmecat]

i really did think it was more complicated. but when you stop and think, there is no reason it should be. thank you :)

[@odetbeauvoisin]

Thank you for all this year’s videos; your easy, relaxed way of sharing these skills is a joy to watch. Happy festive season to you.

[@rubygray7749]

Very helpful, but I'm straining to hear it.

[@Javaman92]

No surprise that this was excellent. I wish you and yours the best for this coming year.

[@mozartpaiva1]

Can't wait to see you teach that belt!

[@SallyPointer]

It's essentially the same as the 12 strand one I already have a video for, just with one more strand

[@archibaldmaclaine6506]

Excellent video. Have you got any plans for a 4 ply cordage video? That is something I really would like to see. Also just as a matter of interest have you done a strength test on any of the cordage? Cheers for now. Ps. I am (im)patiently waiting for your next video.

[@SallyPointer]

Not a formal strength test, but generally I choose materials that are known to be resilient and hard to break. There are tables of strain testing on most fibres available though. Four ply can be done either by plying or cabling. Great idea to do a video comparing the two. It's on my list for the New Year!

[@Liam_Nielsen]

Excellent as always. Thank you for your work.

[@nataschafrechen1782]

Thank you for very informative videos. I have a question about the best way to make a really thick round cord. Is it best to use more strings or use more fibres? I want to make one about 8mm thick from nettle fibres. Thanks a lot

[@SallyPointer]

That's a question I'm going to be addressing in my next video! Bear with me, should be up in about three weeks hopefully.

[@Greatoraint]

I was in London very briefly in November. It was chilly and rainy but I loved it. Love the trees changing color. It seemes nice to stay there longer than I did. I had to catch another ride is why I left so quick. Do you know much about textile making from resources that grow or otherwise originate in the Americas?

[@SallyPointer]

You have such a wealth of information available via indigenous practitioners in all parts of the Americas, I couldn't even scratch the surface of the expertise you have there already.

[@Greatoraint]

Touché Thank you for responding though ;)

[@jessegreywolf]

i love your videos but the sound on this is terribly low

[@SallyPointer]

Hmm, not sure what's up there, it's playing at normal volume at my end

[@colleenparsons51]

Could I use that type for my bow in achary

[@SallyPointer]

Yes, it's an excellent twist for a bow string

[@colleenparsons51]

@@SallyPointer Thank you very much, cause I,'m an archer my self. So that would be very useful